So, have you all been waiting for this one? 🙂
I luckily had a chance to visit this restaurant tonight, but it’s definitely been on my radar. If you haven’t heard, it’s a new seafood place over by Columbian Park. It’s located right across from the parking lot for Tropicanoe Cove.
Number one thing you should know about this place is that you should make a reservation if you want to go. It’s often packed and it’s very small, so there’s a good chance you’ll be turned away if you show up unannounced. We made a Thursday reservation and found the restaurant pretty full. Gratefully, they’ve integrated OpenTable on their website, so you can make your reservations online. (I wish more restaurants did this.)
While the restaurant is very small, it was cozy, bright, with white tablecloths and nice glassware on the tables. When you come in, on the left there is a long wine shelf with tons of different wines available. Small tables that mostly seat 2-4 are in the main dining room, with a back dining room that holds a long table for bigger parties. Black and white photos line the walls and the chairs are all painted a quaint light blue. Truthfully, the decor was adorable.
We were seated right away, and given four water glasses and a large bottle of water to share. This is a nice touch, plus it keeps the servers from having to fetch water for a table all night.
The menu is not expansive and if you are looking for a non-seafood item, you aren’t going to find much. They have their menu online on their website. The menu I’ve linked to is dated January 27th, so I assume the menu changes fairly regularly, but as I’ve only been once, I can’t verify that.
We started with a bottle of wine, which was pretty good and a reasonable price at $20. A basket of bread was placed on the table with a butter that had an orange flavor to it, which was unusual but pleasant.
I started by ordering the Parkside Chop Salad.
This was a really delicious salad, and so much nicer than what you would normally get as a dinner salad at most restaurants. It had hard boiled eggs, cucumber, red bell peppers, cheese, tomatoes, spinach, and croutons, and the white balsamic dressing was delicious. One should note though, that the salad is not included in the meal, so you are paying extra to have it. It was really good though. Solid salad.
For my entree, I ordered the Spicy Mango Shrimp. It comes with baby bok choy, baby carrots, white rice, and a spicy mango sauce.
The shrimp were very big and there were quite a few. I hate it when I order a shrimp dish and it arrives with 3 shrimp in it. No problem here, nice big shrimp. The server warned us that the sauce was spicy. I figured that might be the case, since it was named Spicy Mango Shrimp, but it really wasn’t that bad. It had a kick, but nothing that would stop most from eating it.
I love bok choy and carrots, so the whole meal was really good. I like the spicy mango sauce as well, and it was a good compliment on the white rice. I think it would have been nice to see something a little more interesting than white rice (even Jasmine rice?) but the meal was good and I have no complaints.
A friend ordered the Diver Scallops which came with blood orange gastrique, roasted parnips, haricot vert and baby carrots. She reported her meal was great.
Our server was super nice, although overall the service was a bit slow to start. It took quite a while to even order the bottle of wine, but after that it picked up and I don’t have much to complain about.
When the bills arrived, they were delivered in a guest book. A real, honest to goodness guestbook where you can send in your money along with your feedback. Really cute touch.
Overall, I think it’s a great addition to our community restaurant landscape, for those looking for a more upscale dining experience. I’m generally doubtful about the ability to get decent seafood in the Midwest, but they proved it can be done well.
Kid friendly: Not kid unfriendly, but it’s a fancier place and I didn’t see a children’s menu anywhere.
Location: 1902 Scott Street, Lafayette (map it)
Phone: (765) 464-6531
Cuisine: Seafood
$$$: It’s a higher priced menu, with entrees starting at $20 and gong up as high as $75.
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